OKLAHOMA CITY – The NCCAA All-Central Region Team was released Friday night and for the second straight year, senior forward Alexis Shannon was selected as the Central Region Player of the Year while Hannah Moeller was named the region's Coach of the Year.
Shannon was one of four Evangels selected to the NCCAA All-Central Region Team as Lexi Hernandez, Loralei Siliga and Jessica Fairley also earned Second Team accolades.
In her third season at MACU, Shannon saved her best for last as the two-time NCCAA All-American was the second-leading scorer in the NCCAA with 641 points, averaging a career-best 20 points per game. The Noblesville, Ind. native converted on 47.3 percent of her shots while knocking down a career-best 44-of-125 (35.2 percent) from beyond the three-point arc while notching the second-most points in a single season during the program's NAIA/NCCAA Division I era.
Shannon will be leaving her mark all over the Evangels record books as she ends her MACU career as the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1853 points while also being the program's NAIA/NCCAA DI era rebounding record holder at 757 boards, 185 ahead of Karina Trindade in second on the list.
The 5-11 forward became the program's second all-time scoring leader with a career performance against Oklahoma Panhandle State on Feb. 6, scoring a career-high 33 points for the eighth-most points scored in a single game during the NAIA/NCCAA DI era. Shannon also made the fourth-most field goals in a game during the contest with 14 conversions, finishing just two back of Ashlee Ferguson and Kelli Tolar's record marks.
On top of setting the program's NCCAA DI scoring and rebounding marks, Shannon also ends her career with the records for most field goals made (702), field goals attempted (1486), free throws made (345) and free throws attempted (503) while ranking third in field goal percentage (47.2 percent), third in steals (146) and fifth in assists (188).
It is Shannon's third postseason accolade after being selected to the All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team for the third straight season as well as being named to the SAC All-Tournament Team.
In her fourth season at the helm, Moeller led the Evangels to their fourth straight 20-plus win season, wrapping up the 2019-20 campaign with a 21-11 record. By going 12-8 in Sooner Athletic Conference play, MACU also turned in its fourth straight top four finish in conference play, a height that was never reached prior to when Moeller took over before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Under Moeller, the team turned in the best record in the NCCAA Central Region and received the region's bid to compete at the NCCAA National Championships for a third straight championship before the tournament was cancelled due to the COVIR-19 pandemic.
In her first season with the Evangels, Hernandez made a big impact on both the offensive and defensive ends to earn All-NCCAA Second Team honors. The junior guard finished second on the team in scoring with 375 points (11.7 ppg) while leading the squad with 51 steals.
The Canyon, Texas product put together one of the most prolific three-point shooting campaigns during the NCCAA DI era at MACU after knocking down 82 triples, the fifth-most in a single season during that timeframe. Hernandez joined some elite company, placing just two three-pointers back of Ferguson for fourth on the list and six behind Tolar for third. Overall, Hernandez placed fifth in the entire NCCAA in three-point shooting and third in the Central Region.
Hernandez's best game with MACU came in a pivotal road win at John Brown on Jan. 30, pouring in a career-best 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, 5-of-8 from the three-point arc and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Hernandez played a crucial role in the Evangels' 80-75 victory over Texas Wesleyan in the SAC Quarterfinal on Mar. 3, tallying 22 points on 8-for-14 from the field, 3-of-7 from three and 3-for-3 from the foul line.
In her final season with the Evangels, Siliga closed out with one of the best shooting campaigns during the program's NCCAA DI run. Siliga averaged 9.4 ppg on a 48.5 percent shooting clip, the fourth-highest percentage in the NCCAA DI era.
The Oakland, Calif. native also finished third on the team with 163 rebounds (5.1 rpg) while recording 32 steals on the defensive end.
Siliga earned Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week accolades after putting together a career performance against Science & Arts on Dec. 13, 2019, tallying a career-best 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting while draining a career-high three triples to go with nine rebounds in a 75-73 overtime victory.
Rounding out the honorees, Fairley was selected to the Second Team after being a major contributor off the MACU bench. Fairley averaged 7.5 ppg while ripping down 4.2 rebounds per game, blocking a team-high 14 shots and finishing third on the team with 35 made three-pointers.
Fairley's best performance of the season came on Senior Night inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 27, as the Choctaw, Okla. native scored 25 points, just two shy of her career-high on 9-of-15 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line against Central Christian.
The 5-10 guard has been the staple of consistency for the Evangels over her four-year career while setting several top NCCAA DI era career marks. During that time frame, Fairley is the program's second-leading shot blocker (54), made the third-most threes (151), ranks fourth in both rebounding (550) and steals (134) and placed fifth on the list in both scoring (962) and field goals made (317).
